Searching for Heritage is an album that John Butler recorded and sold on cassette tapes while he was busking on the streets of Fremantle[1] in 1996.[2] It is a collection of instrumental songs, some of which ("Ocean" and "Valley") were re-recorded on the debut self-titled album John Butler. During this time, Butler was usually playing on his own. Completely self-funded,[3] it sold three and a half thousand copies and enabled Butler to fund his first CD recording.[4]
The tape is highly sought-after by collectors since it was out of print of many years, with some copies only found second-hand at music stores. The tape was never reissued after the initial release.
To celebrate the Searching for Heritage's 20th anniversary in 2016, the album was reissued in a vinyl edition, which sold out in 36 hours, and also in several downloadable 24-bit lossless audio formats.[5]
